Microcapsules are known to improve the delivery efficiency of fabric care benefit agents (e.g., perfume oils etc) in liquid laundry detergent compositions. However, further delivery efficiency improvements are desired as these microcapsules may be lost before or after they are applied to the situs of interest such as a fabric, due to factors such as mechanical interactions involved in a wash cycle and/or charge interactions. In certain applications, the deposition of microcapsules is improved by coating the microcapsule with a deposition aid, e.g., a cationic polymer. Such a cationically charged coating enhances the deposition of the microcapsules onto fabrics, particularly onto negatively charged fabrics, e.g., cotton. However, these cationically charged microcapsules also interact with other ingredients in the liquid laundry detergent to exhibit undesirable chemical compatibility or decrease efficacy of an ingredient. This incompatibility can manifest itself as phase instability, especially at pilot scale that subjects the formulation to more rigorous processing conditions.
The use of optical brighteners, also known as fluorescent whitening agents, have long be used in fabric care products to compensate for the yellow tint of fibers be adding blue fluorescence to the light reflected by the fabric.
There is a need for a liquid laundry detergent composition that provides improved delivery efficiency of benefit agents by microcapsules having cationically charged coating to enhance the deposition of the microcapsules, and to provide fluorescent brighter benefits to treated fabric—while being phase stable.
It is an advantage of the present invention to have a phase stable composition at near pH neutral conditions for inter alia hand mildness benefits.
It is also an advantage of the present invention to have a phase stable composition that minimizes the use of hydrotropes.